Puberty class

What grade is this? I taught a group of 5th Girl Scouts about their periods when I was in nursing school. They asked very basic questions like : does it hurt when the blood comes out? What do camps feel like? What if I bleed on my clothes? How do you use tampons? Will everyone know I have it by looking at me?

Those were the ones I remember. I did a lot of anticipatory guidance with them, including keeping a clean pair of underwear and pants in their locker for leakage emergencies, keeping supplies in their locker, changing pads frequently to avoid smelling, how to dispose of them discreetly (and making sure they don't flush them).

For boys I would concentrate of hygiene (my own 11 year-old STINKS and he showers twice a day, lol), skin care, nocturnal emissions...

5th grade. But I have to deal with the boys too, but I'm not sure how to handle that since I'm not that familiar on what they teach the boys.

The MS nurse and I do an hour long class with the 5th grade girls (PE teacher deals with the boys). Our local science center has and awesome presentation that the students watch, it covers all of the biological stuff. The questions I get most often are doomsday, what-if situations "What if my mom is out of town and doesn't have her cellphone and I'm sleeping at a friend's house, but she's not home and only her dad is there and I start my period?" "What if I'm at the beach and I don't have any supplies and I don't have my phone and I can't find my mom and the only people around are boys?". Both are real questions that I've been asked, I no longer allow what-if questions! I've had girls with a gross misunderstanding of how a period works "So, if I get my period Monday, I have to wear a pad until, like, Friday, because you get it once a day for like 5 days, right?" or "It is possible to get your period more than once per day?" I had a girl tell me that she already had her period last week, so she didn't need that class because once you have your first period, you don't get another one until you tell your doctor that you want to have a baby and then the doctor restarts it for you.

Be open and honest and use medical terms. The girls really seem to open up after we tell them our "first period" stories, so if you're comfortable with that idea, it might be a good way to start. The MS nurse said that one of the teachers asked if any of the students had started their periods yet and the whole room shut down and they sat in silence for the rest of the class, no participation, no questions; so maybe avoid that! Open a pad, show them how it works, just kind of try to demystify it for them. You'll survive and it gets easier every time!

pg is a good program. they send you a dvd or you can download the video and watch that way. They have girls and boy specific videos and one co-ed. I already received my supplies. It didn't look like the girls got a pad this year, but they got their little booklets and a sample deodorant. The boys got booklets and a deodorant too.

You would think they would know some of these things already... That some very interesting questions. lol.

What about the boys? what sort of material is covered and what can I answer them?

Programs have sort of gone the way of CPR training- videos replace the need for the speaker to talk a lot except for answering questions and expanding on things that may need to be covered more deeply. We use "Straight Talk About Puberty" (different versions for boys and girls.)

The boys were sillier than the girls, as soon as the word "member" was used...

I do 4th and 5th grade girls puberty/periods using the PG dvd and then questions after. They are never hard medical questions - usually lots of "how will I know" and "what to do if" type things. I do a basic hygiene talk with 4th grade boys and the 5th grade boys get the PG puberty video but there is a male 5th grade teacher who handles their questions. He is my hero, LOL. Then I have a husband/wife doctor team come and talk to my 6th graders.

You would think they would know some of these things already... That some very interesting questions. lol.

What about the boys? what sort of material is covered and what can I answer them?

See, don't assume anything. Sure kids have the internet, but that leaves them just as clueless to menstrual periods unless they have a parent sit them down and really talk about. I had a mom like that; but I know plenty of my peers did not.

I teach sex ed in 7th and 8th grade and get these questions all the time. I have a great chart of the menstrual cycle hanging up in my office and use it as a teaching tool at lot. The kids are fascinated by it, even some of the boys! (One of our HS biology teachers donated it to me when she left; she taught the advanced unit on the reproductive cycle).

I stick to the facts. I use the Get Real Curriculum (it isn't free, sorry, but it is amazing!) and in the 6th grade puberty lesson they have this great exercise for boys and girls to realize that they may feel so much is different between genders during puberty, but actually girls and boys have a ton on common during puberty (like voice changing, growing pubic hair, etc).

If you want a good free resource, try KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health. They have classroom tools for educators, as well as great info for both kids and parents.

One suggestion on the questions is to let the students write their questions on a piece of paper, collect all of the papers and then answer. Some of them are embarrassed to ask in front of everyone.

One suggestion on the questions is to let the students write their questions on a piece of paper, collect all of the papers and then answer. Some of them are embarrassed to ask in front of everyone.

Yes - this is a great suggestion. I have the girls do this and then while the movie is playing, I go through them and group together like ones and kind of get an idea of my answers.

One suggestion on the questions is to let the students write their questions on a piece of paper, collect all of the papers and then answer. Some of them are embarrassed to ask in front of everyone.

I love this and do it, but is this more than one class?

I ask because coming up with appropriate answers on the spot to anonymous questions can be hard if you have never done it before. I have a question box at the end of each class and open the next class by answering the questions from the box. I get time to look at the cards, have a factual answer prepared. Now, some questions I can answer right away, but it can get overwhelming if you have never done it.

I got the "What's Happening To My Body Book For Girls" and the corresponding one " ... For Boys" for my kids. They are terrific, written for age 9-15, clear line drawings, and still on the market. My dtr was the hit of the 4th and 5th grade sleep-overs bringing hers. Written by a woman who taught what she called puberty education, the first jointly with a teenage girl and the second in conjunction with a teenage boy. Liberally interspersed with quotes from people of all ages remembering their "first" stories, their feelings, and such. Both boys and girls had stories about first body hair, first periods/ejaculations, bras, jock straps, pads, tampons, hygiene, and more.

Some of her hints were that she had a questions box where anybody could put in a question and she would answer them once a week-- and some of them were really interesting. We forget, us old broads with a long-standing interest in physiology and bodies, what it was like to be totally clueless. She also got up at the first class and said, "We're going to use regular words here." And she would say things like, "member" and "lady parts" and "breasts" and "uterus" and "sperm" and "ejaculation" and "menstruation" and have the class repeat them in unison until everybody was all giggled out. Brilliant.

See, parents are all fluffed up about "sex ed" but what they're really worried about is talking about puberty.